A HELPING HAND

There’s a famous Zen Buddhist meditation called ‘the sound of one hand clapping’. Such a saying is known as a ‘koan’, a sort of nonsense phrase that monks use for mind training in their search for enlightenment.

I’m no monk, but I was facing another nonsense phrase — ‘the sound of a onehanded jar opener’ — which had nothing to do with enlightenment. Rather, it was cries of frustration from my wife with a newly broken wrist trying to open a jar with one hand. We were quickly learning that you just can’t do that. Try opening your favourite jam, or beer in a screw-top bottle — it’s just not possible with one hand. For small items like pill bottles, you can use your mouth to gain leverage, but not with a jam jar, or a wine bottle … no way! Not my mouth — though maybe Winston Peters could! (Image